AIQUILE METEORITE FORM THE FIRST BOLIVIAN OBSERVED FALL

Lot 55
06.04.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 6 300
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 737544
Lot 55 | AIQUILE METEORITE FORM THE FIRST BOLIVIAN OBSERVED FALL
Estimate value
£ 20 000 – 30 000
A fresh chondrite, draped in fusion crust with regmaglypts – the result of the meteorite’s fiery passage through Earth’s atmosphere after traveling at a cosmic velocity of approximately 12 miles per second. The amount of frictional heating which occurs while the meteorite is plunging through the atmosphere results in the meteorite’s exterior surface becoming molten, and as a result of air flow, it ablates off the mass.

After the appearance of a bright fireball, stones fell in a 12-kilometer-long strewn field in the Aiquile district of the Andes on 20 November 2016.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
160 mm x 120 mm x 100 mm
3.1kg.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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23.03.2022 – 06.04.2022
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